Boiler cleaner



y 936. LJ. BAYER 2,039,874

BOILER CLEANER Filed Nov. 28, 1934 2 She ets-Sheet 1 FlG.I.' F FIGZ. 73 7 6 Q 7/ 1 I 7 o 7 9 1 75 75 d I q '7 4 I 5 10 'g I I N VENTOR 1. JOHN BAYER" HTTORNEY L. J. BAYER BOILER CLEANER May 5, 1936.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 28, 1954 INVENTOR LEO JOHNBAYER BY W Arromvzy Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention has relation to improvements in boiler cleaners and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

Briefly, the invention relates to an operating head for actuating the blower tube wherein is embodied a sleeve type of valve and an actuating mechanism for the valve, which mechanism also operates the blower member through the medium of the valve. In other words, the valve serves the two-fold function of a valve for admitting steam to the blower tube, and a coupling element between the actuating mechanism and the tube whereby the latter is rotated. By interposing" the valve between the actuating mechanism and the tube I insure the positive and complete opening of the valve before the blower tube is rotated, which is important, to assure a full steam supply to the blower tube nozzles throughout the entire blowing arc of said tube. The two-fold function of the valve also makes for simplicity in construction of the operating head as a minimum number of parts are employed.

A further object of the invention is the construction of a boiler cleaner wherein but a single operating mechanism is required, said mechanism serving to open the valve and also rotate the blower tube through any desired cleaning arc. It is also the object of the present invention to provide a boiler cleaner that is readily adapted to any location in the boiler, irrespective of the blowing are required to clean the boiler tubes, as any blowing arc may be obtained from a few degrees to a complete rotation of 360. Further and other advantages will be better apparent from a detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front elevation of my improved boiler cleaner; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing the cleaner applied to a boiler wall, a part of which is shown in section; Fig. 3 is a vertical, middle, longitudinal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 showing the valve in its closed position so that no steam is admitted to the blower tube; Fig. 4 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 3 with the valve shown in its open position in which it also acts as a coupling between the blower actuating mechanism and the blower tube; Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 5 except that it is taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 4 after the valve has been fully opened; Fig. '7 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 11 of Fig. 3; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the boiler wall and sleeve therein, and that part of the blower tube passing through the sleeve showing a modification in which stop mechanism is applied to the blower tube for limiting the arc of rotation thereof; and Fig. 9 is a vertical crosssection taken on the line 99 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the'drawings, W represents the boiler wall through which the blower tube l of the boiler cleaner must pass in order to reach the boiler tubes (not shown) which are to be cleaned. Since the purpose and general principles of operation of boiler cleaners are well known in the art, and since the present invention is directed primarily to the operating head, the boiler tubes and part of the blower tube mounted thereon are not shown.

It is also common practice to insert what is known as a wall sleeve 2 in the opening 0 in the boiler Wall through which the tube 1 passes. The sleeve '2 is provided with a flange 3 for securing the sleeve to the wall W in any desirable manner. A wall sleeve cap comprising a plate 5 having an opening 6 and an overhanging bracket 1 is secured to the flange 3 of wall sleeve 2 by bolts 8, said bracket 1 serving to support the valve housing 9, and of course the balance of the operating head of the boiler cleaner. A split ring In is passed over the end of valve housing 9, said ring having a boss I i, into which is screwed a stud l2 which traverses an opening l3 in the bracket 1 to resiliently support the operating head from the bracket 1 through the medium of a coiled spring l4, washer l5 and nut l6, as shown. Such resilient support for the operating head is old in the art and will not be further alluded to.

Valve housing or casing 9 is cylindrical in shape and is provided with a flanged extension H to which is connected the supply pipe I8. There is a recess l9 within the valve casing 9, and inserted in this recess are a series of packing rings 20, 2| and 22. The packing rings 2!] and 2| are separated by a sleeve 23 and the packing rings 2| and 22 are separated by a cage 24 comprising rings 25, 25 held in spaced relation by a plurality of equally spaced pins 26. Bearing against the packing ring 22 and projecting'from the casing 9 is a sleeve 27 having an external shoulder 28 against which bears a collar 29, said collar being secured to the casing 9 by a plurality of bolts 30 and nuts 3|. The sleeve 2! and collar 29 together serve the function of a packing gland for exerting pressure on the packing rings 20, 2i and 22 and holding them in place.

The blower tube I is screw-threaded into a tubular member 32 rotatably mounted within the valve casing 9, the inner end 33 of the tubular member being of reduced diameter and serving as a coupling element between the blower tube and a sleeve valve 34. In order to impose friction on the member 32 so that it may not rotate except when it is rotated for the purpose of rotating the blower tube an annular groove 35 is provided under the outer end of the said member and friction blocks 36, 36 are disposed in said groove and project outwardly into tapped openings 31, 31 extending radially through the valve casing 9. Coiled springs 38, 38 are disposed over pins 39, 39 projecting outwardly from the blocks 36, 36, said springs being held in compression by perforated nuts 40, 40 by means of which the friction or braking effect on the blocks 36, 36 may be adjusted. The reduced inner end 33 of the member 32 is provided with oppositely disposed guide ribs 4|, 4| on its periphery, between which lugs 42, 42 are adapted to travel as the sleeve valve 34 is reciprocated back and forth in a manner presently to appear.

A cage 43 is secured by bolts 44 to a flange 45 extending outwardly from valve casing 9,'said cage being provided with a socket 46 for receiving a roller thrust bearing 41 for the hollow shaft 48. The sleeve valve 34 has a valve stem 49 adapted to traverse the hollow shaft 48 and on the periphery of said valve stem are two oppositely disposed helical grooves 50, 50 in each of which a roller 5| operates. Each of said rollers is mounted in a bearing 53 fitting into a bore 53 through the shaft 48. The inner end of shaft 48 is provided with a flange 48 for engagement with the roller bearing 41, and the outer end of the shaft 48 has a gear wheel 54 securely fixed to it by means of a key 55 and set screw 56.

The sleeve valve 34 has within it a chamber 51 into which the inner end 33 of tubular member 32 projects, said member being spaced. from the inner surface 58 of the sleeve valve 34 to provide an annular passageway 59 around the reduced portion 33 of the member 32. There is a plurality of ports 60 in the valve 34 for the purpose of admitting steam into the chamber 51, as will appear hereinafter. The stem 49 of the valve 34 is provided with a series of axial bores 6|, 62 and 63 of successively increasing diameters, through which passes the stem 64 of a sec-- ondary valve 65 adapted to fit against a valve seat 66 formed at the inner reduced end 33 of the member 32. The stem 64 has a pair of spaced bearing surfaces 61, 61' on which it is supported in the bore 63, and a coiled spring 68 is disposed over the outer portion of the valve stem 64 within the bore. 62 and confined between the bearing 61' and the inner end 62' of bore 62. The extremity of the valve stem 64 is screw-threaded to receive a nut 69 and lock nut 69'.

The cage 43 has a bearing 10 formed on its upper surface in which is mounted a shaft carryinga pinion 12 for driving the gear 54 and an actuating sheave 13 for rotating the shaft A chain 14 operates over the sheave 13 and passes throughguide loops I5, 15 on a hanger '|6 mounted on hub T! of the sheave 13, which chain extends downwardly to a convenient distance from the floor so that it may be readily grasped by the operator. r

The operation of my improved boiler cleaner may be described as follows:

The operator rotates the sheave 13 by pulling on the chain 14 so as to actuate the pinion 12 and drive the gear 54 in the proper direction to cause the rollers 5|, 5| to move the sleeve valve 34 outwardly. As the sleeve valve moves outwardly the disk valve 65 will remain seated due to the pressure exerted against it by the spring 68. However, by the time the valve ports 68 come into communication with the chamber C housing the cage 24, the valve stem 49 will engage nut 69 on the stem 64 of the disk valve 65 and force the poppet valve to travel along with the sleeve valve 34 until the ports 60 are in full register and the disk valve 65 is also opened. Steam will now enter the chamber 51 through ports 60 and will pass by the unseated valve 65 into the member 32 and, of course, the blower tube l for discharge against the boiler tubes (not shown).

The pitch of the helical grooves 50, 58 is such that when the sleeve valve and the disk valve are both effectively opened the ends of the grooves will encounter the rollers 5|, 5| so that the valve stem 49 will be coupled to the shaft 48 and rotate with said shaft if the operator continuesto actuate the sheave 13. Since the sleeve valve 34 is in engagement with the member 32 through the guide ribs 4|, 4| and lugs 42, said member 32, and blower tube I will obviously be rotated when the sleeve valve 34 is rotated. It is of course desirable that there be no rotation of the blower tube except when said tube is positively connected as just described to the operating mechanism. It is for this reason that the friction blocks 36, 36 are applied to the member 32. However, the friction or braking effect of said blocks is readily overcome by the leverage obtained in the rotation of the sheave wheel 13.

In the modification shown in Figs. 8 and 9, a supporting bracket 1' corresponding to bracket 1 of the main form extends outwardly from the boiler wall W a greater distance than it does in the main form so that there will be sufficient space S between the operating head and the boiler wall to permit a grooved collar 80 to be mounted on the blower tube Within the groove 8| of said collar, blocks 82, 82 are fixed by means of bolts 83, 83 to serve as stop members for cooperating with a finger 84 extending outwardly from the wall sleeve cap 5'. The finger 84 extends into the groove 8| and as the blower tube is rotated the stops 82, 82 will impinge against the finger to limit the arc of rotation of the blower tube.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the blower tube I cannot be rotated until the valve admitting steam thereto has first been A necessary to open the valve and rotate the blower tube and nothing need bedone by the operator except to pull on this chain to insure the proper operation of the boiler cleaner.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supported from the boiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing, coupling members on the valve and blower tube positioned for engagement When'the Valve is open, rotatory means for reciprocating the valve, and means for coupling the rotatory means to the valve for rotating the same.

2. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supported from the boiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing, said sleeve valve having sliding engagement with the blower tube, rotatory means for reciprocating the sleeve valve, means for imposing frictional resistance on the blower tube to resist rotation thereof, and means for coupling the rotatory means to the valve for rotating the same.

3. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supported from the boiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing, coupling members on the valve and blower tube positioned for engagement when the valve is open, means for actuating the sleeve valve, and means for coupling the valve actuating means with the sleeve valve for actuating the blower tube.

4. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supported from the boiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, 'a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing, coupling members on the valve and blower tube positioned for engagement when the valve is open, an auxiliary valve within the sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam to the blower tube, a single means for actuating the sleeve valve and the auxiliary valve, and means for coupling the valve actuating means with the piston valve for actuating the blower tube.

5. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supported from the boiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing, said valve being rotatable and reciprocable relative to the blower tube, cam elements formed on the sleeve valve, driving elements in cooperative relation with said cam elements, and means for rotating said driving elements to successively reciprocate the sleeve valve and rotate the same.

6. A boiler cleaner for removing deposits from the external surfaces of boiler tubes, said boiler cleaner comprising a rotatably mounted blower tube supportedfrom theboiler tubes, a steam supply pipe therefor, and an operating head for said blower tube, said head including a valve casing between the supply pipe and the blower tube, a sleeve valve for controlling the flow of steam through the valve casing said valve being rotatably and slidingly mounted in the valve casing, an auxiliary valve within the sleeve valve to regulate the orifice leading to the blower tube, means for actuating the sleeve valve and the auxiliary valve, and means for coupling the sleeve valve to the blower tube to actuate the same.

LEO JNO. BAYER. 

